Garment hanger



Jan. & i970 F'g osc zo- ET AL 3,487,984

GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug. 13, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Jam. M

w 1970 D- F. LOSCALZO Em 3,487,984

GARMENT HANGER Filed Aug. 13. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet B INVENTORS DOMI/V/(K 105544 20 A fi/wvf -77 34 644 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,487,984 GARMENT HANGER Dominick F. Loscalzo, Whitestone, and Anthony J. Bar- 'santi, Pelham Manor, N.Y., assignors to Lerner Manufacturing, Inc., Melville, Long Island City, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 13, 1968, Ser. No. 752,385 Int. Cl. A47j 51/14 US. Cl. 223--96 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment hanger having a main body part and an articulatable auxiliary part initially exposing the main part but movable to an operative position overlying the main part, the two parts carrying clamping elements which, when the parts are in operative position, cooperate to grasp and hold a garment between them.

The present invention relates to garment hangers.

In recent years it has become common practice for manufacturers of garments such as pants, skirts, or lingerie, for example, to ship these garments on individual hangers to their wholesale or retail distributors. In the shipment of garments, large quantities of such garments, each carried on a separate hanger, are transported either in trucks, vans or the like, or carried on racks pushed through the streets. It is essential that the garment be securely retained on their hangers despite the rigorous conditions to which they are subjected during shipment.

The retailer may then, if he so desires, display the garments in his establishment on the original hanger on which the garment was delivered to him, and the subsequent purchaser of the garment may also utilize that hanger as a hanger for use in the home. Thus, it is desirable to provide a garment hanger of this type which can be readily utilized for assembly and shipping by the manufacturer as well as for subsequent use as a display hanger, and then as a conventional hanger for use in th home.

The functional characteristics of hangers used for these varied purposes, while generally the same, exhibit certain specific differences. For the manufacturer, who deals with large numbers of garments and for whom cost, including labor cost, is an important factor, the expense of the hanger itself and the ease and rapidity with which garments may be placed on the hanger are of major significance. Low shipping weight is also of importance. The distributor and dealer care that the garments do not fall from the hangers in transit, and that the garments will remain on the hangers as they are handled in the store. To the purchaser (and to some re; tail outlets) the garment must be removable from and replaceable on the hanger many times Without adversely effecting the security of garment retention on the hanger.

It is, therefore, the prime object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger which can be easily, reliably and quickly employed to carry garments and which reliably satisfies all of the varied requirements set forth above.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger having particular advantage in the ease with which a garment may be assembled thereon and the securement of the retention of the garment on the hanger.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger which can be used to display a garment in a retail store without the necessity of removing the garment from the hanger on which it was shipped to that store.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger which can be fabricated in mass quantities at relatively low cost.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger of the type described on which the garment can beeasily placed and then removed many times without significantly adversely affecting the retention of the garment thereon.

To these ends, the present invention provides a garment hanger having a body member comprising a central main part from which a first clamping part and a latching means extend. The body member further comprises an auxiliary part from which a second clamping part extends said auxiliary part initially exposing the main body part and being movable to overlie that main body part and engage the latching means so as to be secured in an operative position in which the first and second clamping parts come together in an adjacent face-to-face relationship, thereby to form the garment grasping portion of the hanger therebetween.

The auxiliary part is preferably initially formed integral with the body member. In a first illustrated embodiment it is hingedly secured to the main part of the body member, whereby the pivoting of the auxiliary part around its hinged connection causes one edge thereof to engage and become caught by the latching means, Alternatively, as herein disclosed, in a second embodiment, the auxiliary part may be breakably secured to the main part of the body member, the auxiliary part being broken off when the hanger is to be used, and then engaged with the latching means to overlie the body member main part so that the respective clamping parts of the main and auxiliary parts of the body member are brought into the desired adjacent orientation for garment carrying.

To the accomplishment of the above and to such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to the construction and manner of use of a garment hanger as defined in the appended claims and as described in this specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a three-quarter perspective view of one embodiment of a garment hanger according to the present invention, the main and auxiliary body parts being shown in an initial position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing one auxiliary part in its operative position and the other being moved toward its operative position;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view, on a reduced scale, of the garment hanger of FIG. 1 in use;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view taken along the line '55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a three-quarter perspective view of a Second embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary parts being shown in initial position; and

FIG. 7 is a View similar to FIG. 6 but showing one auxiliary part in its operative position 'and the other being moved toward its operative position.

A first embodiment of the garment hanger of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. l-S. The hanger comprises a body member 10, which is preferably molded from a single piece of plastic or similar material, having central main body part 12 from which a pair of resilient clamping fingers 14 and 16 depend at locations inboard of the ends of main body part 12. A pair of latching elements 17 and 18 project outwardly from the vertical surface of body part 12, and as is conventional, a hook 19 extends up therefrom. A pair of auxiliary body parts 20 have depending therefrom resilient" clamping fingers 24' and 26 respectively, which may be substantially identical in construction and dimension with the clamping fingers 14 and 16 on the main body part 12. When the body member is molded the auxiliary body parts 20 and 22 will be in the same plane as the main body part 12, and in their initial molded position they expose the main body part 12, the clamping fingers 24 and 26 carried by the auxiliary body parts 20 and 22 being laterallyspaced from, and facing in the same direction as, the clamping fingers 14 and 16 with which they are to cooperate respectively.

The auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are movable from their initial extended position to an operative position (see FIG. 2) in which they overlie portions of the main body part 12, the clamping fingers 24 and 26 then being moved into close opposition to, and preferably into engagement with, the clamping fingers 14 and 16 respectivelyon the main body part 12. The auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are held in their operative positions by engagement with the latching elements 17 and 18 respectively. The latching elements 17 and 18 may each comprise a flexible leaf 28 extending outwardly from the main body part 12, and carrying a sloping, camming surface 30 on its outer end leading to a latching ledge 31. The main and auxiliary body parts may comprise a vertical main wall with rigidifying flanges 36 being provided on the main body part 12 and similar flanges 38 and 40 being provided on the auxiliary body parts 20 and 22 respectively. The flanges 36 are not continuous with the flanges 38 and 40 so that the auxiliary body parts 20 and 22 are readily movable relative to the main body part 12. When the body parts are formed of suitable material, such as polypropylene, hinges 32 and 34 are defined between the main body part 12 and the auxiliary body parts 20 and 22 respectively, by that portion of the vertical main wall in registration with the discontinuities between the flanges 36 and the flanges 38 and 40 respectively, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-5. FIG. 1 shows the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 swinging forward slightly from their initial position, around hinges 32 and 34 respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates the manner of use of the hanger of the present invention, particularly when used by a garment manufacturer to secure a garment 44 such as a skirt thereto. While the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are in their initial position exposing the main body part 12, the garment 44 is placed up against the clamping fingers 14 and 16. The auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are then pivoted around their respective hinges 32 and 34 until their-end edges 46 and 48 respectively, pass over the camming surfaces 30 of the latching elements 17 and 18, causing the resilient latching elements tobe urged toward the center of body member 10. The further pivoting of the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 towards body member 12 moves edges 36 and 48 beyond the calming surfaces 30 and beneath the latching ledges 31, thereby causing leaves 28 to spring back to their original unstressed positions and thus to snap around edges 46 and 48 of the auxiliary parts 20 and 22, thereby to reliably latch the latter to the body member 12 in their operative positions in FIGS. 2 and 3, and bring the mating pairs of clamping fingers 14, 24 and 16, 26 into their garment clamping positions, with their tips 14a, 24a and 16a, 26a respectively touching or substantially so. A desired degree of clamping stress may be provided by causing the clamping finger pairs to engage before the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are in their fully latched positions. Due to the resiliency of the engaging pairs of clamping fingers 14, 24 and 16, 26, a garment 44 placed between them will be reliably and securely held in place. To remove the garmentfrom the hanger 10, either the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 may be moved outwardly out of latching engagement with the latching elements 16 and 18 to move clamping fingers 24 and 26 t 4 a away from clampingfingers 14 and 16, or the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 may remain latched to body member 12 and a vigorous downward pull may be exerted on the garment 44.

When the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are latched in their operative positions, the upper flanges 38 and 40 carried thereby overlie the upper surfaces of those portions of the latching elements 17 and 18 which bear the camming surfaces 30. This will fix the vertical position of those parts and prevent any downward force which may be applied to them from causing their disengagement with their latching elements. As a result the latched engagement between the auxiliary'parts and the body member will remain secure even though the hanger "and the garment carried thereon are subjected to rigorous handling.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. There the hanger body member 10 comprises a main body part 12' carrying depending 'clampingfingers- 14' and 16' spaced inwardly from the ends thereof substantially as in the previously described embodiment.

A pair of auxiliary parts, 20' and 22', each carrying a resilient clamping finger 24' and 26 respectively, extend from-body member 12" and are separated therefrom by a reduced thickness, breakable connection 50 and 51 respectiyely. The latching elements 17' and 18 each comprise a laterally spaced pair of flexible leaves 52 and 54 each of which respectively carries a camming surface 56 and 58 at'their outer ends leading to'latching edges 59 and 61, respectively. The breakable connections 50 and 51 between body member 12' and the auxiliary parts 20' and 22 respectively is defined between the flanges 36' and 38' and flanges 36 and 40 respectively provided on the upper edges'of the body member 12 and the auxiliary parts 20' and 22. The auxiliary parts 20' and 22 are each provided with a pair of spaced rectangular slots 60 and 62, each slot 60 defining a vertical edge 64 at its outboard end as shown in FIG. 7, and each slot 62 defining a vertical edge 66 at its inboard end as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7. The distance between edges 64 and 66 is substantially equal to the distance between the leaves 52 and 54 of the latching elements 17' and 18'.

In "use, the auxiliary parts 20" and 22' are separated from body member 12 by being broken off from the body member 12 at connections 50' and 51 respectively. Slots 60 and 62 are placed over the spaced latching elements so that edges 64 engage camming surfaces 56, and edges 66 engage camming surfaces 58. By pushing one of the separated auxiliary parts toward the body member 12, the camming surfaces 56 and 58 are urged inwardly toward one another until that auxiliary part passes completely over the camming surface at which time the leaves 52 and 54' spring outwardly into abutting'engagement with edges '64 and 66 to latch the auxiliary part 20' and 22' up against the main body part 12'. When'the auxiliary part 20" and 22" is solatched to the body member 12, its clamping finger 24 is positioned with respect to clamping finger 14' of the body member 12' in the same adjacent face-tofa'ce relationship as'in the first embodiment.

Vertical movement of the latched auxiliary parts 20' and 22 is effectively prevented because the leaves 52 and 54 preferably are vertically snugly received in the slots 60 and 62'and respectively.

Thus, a garment hanger has been disclosed which is effective to provide secure retention of a garment. Once the garment has been hung on the hanger it will reliably remain thereon even though the hanger and garment are subjected to movement and forces such as those encountered during the shipment of the garment. As the hanger may be readily formed from a single piece of plastic or similar material, it can be readily fabricated in mass quantities and is, therefore, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and to-use' thus permitting its economical use in the shipment of large quantities of garments. Thehanger is also Sufiiciently rugged and attractive to permit the use thereof in a retail establishment and in the home of the purchaser of the garment. Moreover, because the clamping fingers 14 and 16 are initially exposed, so that a garment may be put down thereon, after which the auxiliary parts 20 and 22 are moved to operative position with their clamping fingers 24 and 26 moving into registering relation with the fingers 14 and 16 respectively, the assemblyline association of garment and hanger is greatly facilitated-very little skill is required, speed is great, secure garment retention is achieved in a. virtually foolproof manner, and there is no possibility of garment damage from sliding delicate fabrics between stiff fingers.

When a retailer receives a garment already on a hanger his displaying of that garment is facilitated; he need not take the time or trouble to put the garment on a hanger before displaying it. Hence retailers are pressuring manufacturers to ship their garments with hangers in place. Manufacturers have resisted this because of the cost of the hanger structures and, more importantly, the labor expense involved in putting the garments on the-hangers. The hangers of the present invention, because of their cost-saving features, will enable manufacturers to meet this demand on the part of their customers without appreciably increasing their expense.

While only two embodiments of the present invention have been herein specifically disclosed, it will be understood that many variations may be made therein, all within the scope of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A garment hanger comprising, a body member having a main part and first and second auxiliary parts extending from the opposite ends of said main part, a pair of spaced latching means operatively secured to said main part, a pair of spaced first clamping means extending from said main part, second clamping means extending from each of said auxiliary parts, said auxiliary parts initially extending from said main part when in an inoperative position, means attaching each of said auxiliary parts to said main part for moving said auxiliary parts to an operative position in which they overlie said main part and respectively engage one of said latching means, thereby to latch said auxiliary parts to said main part and to bring respective ones of said first and second clamping means into adjacent face-to-face relationship, said clamping means being eifective to clamp and retain a garment placed therebetween and hanger mounting means operatively secured toand extending from said main part at a location intermediate the opposite ends thereof.

2. The gat i'nent hanger of claim 1, in which said auxiliary parts in the inoperative positions constitute extensions of said main part.

3. The garment hanger of claim 2, in which said main part and said auxiliary parts are a one-piece construction.

4. In the garment hanger of claim 3, wherein said means attaching is a hinged connection, said auxiliary parts thereby being relatively freely hingeable about said hinged connection from its initial inoperative position to said operative position.

5. The garment hanger of claim 4, in which said main part and said auxiliary parts comprise a common longitudinally extending flexible web with a rigidifying flange projecting from a longitudinal edge thereof, said flange being interrupted and said hinged connection being defined along that portion of said web in registration with said interruption.

6. The garment hanger of claim 5, in which said flexible web is formed of polypropylene.

7. The garment hanger of claim 5, in which said flange on said auxiliary parts overlies said latching means when said parts are latched therewith, thereby to define means effective to prevent vertical movement of said parts with respect to said latching means.

8. In the garment hanger of claim 2, wherein said means attaching is a hinged connection, said auxiliary parts thereby being relatively freely hingeable about said hinged connection from their initial positions to said operative positions.

9. The garment hanger of claim 8, in which said main part and said auxiliary part comprise a common longitudinally extending flexible web, a rigidifying flange projecting from a longitudinal edge thereof, said flange being interrupted and said hinged connection being defined along that portion of said web in registration with said interruption.

10. The garment hanger of claim 9, in which said flexible web is formed of polypropylene.

11. The garment hanger of claim 9, in which said flange on said auxiliary part overlies said latching means when said parts are latched therewith, thereby preventing vertical movement of said' parts with respect to said latching means.

12. In the garment hanger of claim 3, wherein said means attaching is a breakable connection normally operatively securing said auxiliary parts to said main part.

13. The garment hanger of claim 12, in which said latching means comprises a pair of spaced elements extending from said main part, said auxiliary parts having a pair of exposed internal edges, said edges respectively being adapted to engage said elements respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,407,841 9/1946 Le Roy 22396 2,465,859 3/1949 Fidler 22396 2,648,907 8/ 1953 Nicholson 22397 XR 3,225,978 12/1965 Wach 223-91 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. H. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner 

